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Kakegurui is no stranger to controversy, and those who have watched the anime series will know why. This anime is an adaptation of the manga series of the same name by Homura Kawamoto and illustrated by Toru Naomura. The premise of the story is quite intriguing, especially to those who are well-acquainted with card games.
This was a show that promised to explore the various games that have originated from the west and some that are traditional to Japan. Thus, for anime enthusiasts, Kakegurui seemed to have a lot of potential. However, some of the themes explored in the series didn’t seem to sit well with the viewers.
Furthermore, characters in the series have been se*ualized to a great extent, and this certainly impeded the overall storytelling. The high frequency of suggestive content was one of the biggest issues that propped up repeatedly and led to the series becoming controversial, among other factors.
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Kakegurui: Taking a look into the setting and themes explored in the anime and manga series
The Kakegurui anime series is set in a prestigious academy known as Hyakkou Private School. The students that attend this institution all come from some of the most powerful families across the country, and a distinct social hierarchy is practiced in the school.
This setting isn’t particularly foreign to anime and manga consumers. However, the hierarchy isn’t based on academic merit, but on the ability to gamble across various formats. This clearly makes way for extreme toxicity in the plot. Furthermore, the "housepets" system is another element of the series that even Kakegurui fans didn’t like. Themes such as toxicity, harassment, abuse, and cheating were a constant in the show.
Housepets were those who were in the bottom 100 contributors of donation to the Student Council, who lose their basic human rights. They are forced to wear a tag that differentiates them from the rest and are constantly subjected to harassment and abuse. In fact, one side character, Jun Kiwatari, who was a housepet, was reduced to bones and had visible dark circles. It was a clear indication of his treatment in the school. Bullying and harassment never stopped in the story and prevailed throughout every installment of the anime series.
One of the biggest reasons why members of the anime and manga community were uncomfortable with Kakegurui was the series’ protagonist, Jabami Yumeko. There were plenty of suggestive scenes in the anime series as well. From a writer's perspective, this character was monotonous and didn't seem to have any redeeming qualities.
Furthermore, players would do anything to win, and therefore, cheating was quite common. There is a complete lack of honor among the competitors in the show. Corners were cut at every possible juncture, which also impeded the overall viewing experience.
Some viewers found Kakegurui to be repulsive, since the character writing was quite bad. Most characters were extremely two-dimensional, lacked depth, and didn’t seem well-fleshed out. The only thing that all characters had in common was their love for gambling and their aspiration for getting to the top of the food chain.
With themes like gambling, cheating, and bullying being constants in the show, it is no surprise that Kakegurui is a controversial anime that has divided the anime and manga community.
Stay tuned for more anime and manga news as 2023 progresses.
